"Hertha inflict serious blow on Leverkusen's Champions League ambitions with a 2-0 victory," is the summary in kicker online. "The Berliners shocked the initially very dominant Werkself by taking the lead out of the blue," added the sports journal, and said that Bayer 04 "were frustrated by a brilliant defensive performance from their opponents."
The Werkself are at least praised for the opening stages of the game. "In the first quarter of an hour, it looked as if the team under coach Peter Bosz had travelled to the Olympic Stadium with enough confidence," analysed the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. "Hertha were struggling to prevent the Werkself creating good chances on goal. But with the opening strike they pulled the plug on Bayer 04."
RP Online provides a similar description of the unfortunate course of the first 25 minutes at the Olympic Stadium. The journal tributes "motivated" to the "start by the visitors with threats particularly coming from their wingers Moussa Diaby and Leon Bailey. The best chances in a good start to the game fell to Kai Havertz (5') and Kevin Volland (6')." However, then there is the big but: "The fact the Werkself did not take their chances came back to haunt them. Matheus Cunha rounded off the first really successful move by Hertha to make it 1-0 (22') – Bayer keeper Lucas Hradecky stood no chance with the shot from 14 metres out."
The rest of the match draws the following analysis from FAZ: "Hertha were very defensive after taking the lead and worked hard to close space down. Leverkusen moved well up to the box but the final pass often went astray." The assessment is therefore short and succinct: "The Berliners were more effective than Leverkusen."
The WELT AM SONNTAG provides a remarkable fact in the unfortunate performance by the Werkself: "Bayer 04 Leverkusen failed to score in the Bundesliga for the first time since the 1-0 defeat earlier in the season against Hertha. The Werkself have only lost both games this season against the team from Berlin."
There is now only a glimmer of hope for next Saturday due to the opponents’ performance highly praised by the media. "Ahead of the final matchday, Bayer must hope for the next step forward for Berlin," writes the EXPRESS. "As Hertha are then away to Champions League rivals Gladbach."
The BILD am Sonntag clearly states the position before the final matchday: "Leverkusen have to win (against Mainz), and Gladbach lose (against Hertha)." The tabloid does show another route to the Champions League for the Werkself: "Or: Leverkusen win the Europa League in August. As the winners automatically qualify for the Champions League."
Less than a year ago, Kerim Alajbegovic moved from the Bayer 04 U19s to Austrian top-flight club FC Red Bull Salzburg. The forward’s development since then has been impressive. In 36 matches, including in the UEFA Europa League, the 18-year-old has scored 14 goals. In the summer, Alajbegovic, now a Bosnia international, will return to Leverkusen - and thus not only achieve the next milestone still early in his career, but also enrich the Werkself squad with his footballing versatility and determination.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended the contract with forward Nathan Tella ahead of schedule. The versatile 26-year-old, who can be deployed as a right winger, false nine or left winger, has penned a new contract to 30 June 2031. Tella joined the Werkself from Championship club Southampton in 2023. His previous contract ran to the summer of 2028.
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Nathan Tella has extended his contract with Bayer 04 to 2031. In an interview with Werkself TV, the 26-year-old talks about fulfilling his dreams, his positive outlook on life and his goals for the future. He answers the questions in English - all except the last one, which he addresses directly to the fans...
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In the final international break in the current 2025/26 campaign, Bayer 04 striker Patrik Schick with Czechia will be battling for a place at the World Cup. Meanwhile, national teams that have already qualified, include other Werkself players called up, are involved in friendlies in the build-up to the World Cup. Read on for an overview of the Leverkusen internationals and their match dates.
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The Werkself kicked off the final international break of the current season on Monday morning with the first of three open training sessions this week. While eleven Bayer 04 players will be away on international duty in the coming days, the other players will be working together in Leverkusen. The next challenge in the Bundesliga awaits on Saturday, 4 April (kick-off: 15:30 CEST) with the home game against VfL Wolfsburg.
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